Prison Sentences for Academy Officials Involved in Large-Scale or Ghostwritten Papers for University Entrance Exams

Court: "Risk of Undermining Fairness in University Admissions"

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Academy officials who ghostwrote and fabricated various competition submissions used for college admissions were sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 5th, Judge Kwang-yeol Lee of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 23 sentenced A (44), the head of a college admissions consulting firm in Gangnam, Seoul, who was detained and prosecuted on charges including obstruction of business, to 1 year and 4 months in prison. Instructor B (36) of the same firm, who was also prosecuted, was sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 3-year probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

The court stated, "The defendants' actions deprived other students participating in academic competitions of opportunities and caused their parents to feel deprived," adding, "There is also a risk of undermining the fairness of college admissions, so strict punishment is necessary." However, the court explained that considering their remorse and the absence of prior convictions exceeding fines, the sentence was determined accordingly.

A and others were tried on charges of ghostwriting and fabricating assignments such as papers for various competitions for high school students 58 times from September 2017 to July 2019 while operating a college admissions consulting academy in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It is known that students submitted papers and other works written by instructors as if they were their own creations to competition organizers, with some even winning awards in actual competitions. Investigations also revealed that most of the students were children from wealthy families.

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